Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad #2 Review and *SPOILERS*

Justice Is Going Down

Written By: Joshua Williamson

Art By: Tony S. Daniel, Sandu Florea, Alex Sinclair, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: December 28, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

After not really digging Joshua Williamson's run on the Flash, I was a little wary going into this event, but I have to tell you....... I don't know where this Joshua Williamson has been hiding, but I want more of what he gave us last issue in all the books he's doing.  Yeah, we had a certain amount of setup that was needed to get everyone on the Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad trolley, but even with that it was done really well and each and every character felt spot on to me.  On top of the action that the title promises, we also had Maxwell Lord showing up in this event and breaking out some of the world's worst villains in order to put together a group to help him save the world........ which in my mind means that the Justice League are in big trouble, what with Maxwell going on about how they aren't doing their job properly and they're not the only ones in trouble because as we ended the previous issue, we also found out that old Max wants his new crew to kill Amanda Waller.  Let's jump into this issue and see if the awesomeness continues and if we find out anything more about what Maxwell Lord is up to.  Let's check it out.

Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad: DC Announces First Event of The Rebirth Era

While we were all wondering about The Monster Men crossover happening in September, DC Comics was cooking up an event to show us how the Suicide Squad could stand toe to toe with the world's greatest heroes........ a lot like they were talking about in the Suicide Squad movie.  Now, I love a good event and hopefully this will be something that will continue the greatness of Rebirth and show us that DC Comics have everything under control and will continue telling us amazing stories featuring our favorite heroes and villains.  Let's check out what going down with this press release.

Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad #1 Review and *SPOILERS*

Are We Looking At A New Sort of Trinity War?

Written By: Joshua Williamson
Art By: Jason Fabok, Alex Sinclair, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 21, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Now, don't go and think of Night of The Monster Men as Rebirth's first event because that's be a terrible place to start your thinking when coming into this.  All that Monster Men nonsense was just a crossover, it's here where you'll get your first event and hopefully if everything works out and the comic book gods are smiling down at us, this will be the event that you'll remember for years to come and make you reminisce fondly of the early days of Rebirth.  So yeah, if you haven't already, you'll want to read Batman #13 before this......... simply because it's Batman, but also because we have a couple page prologue leading into this that will explain why Batman's taking action against Amanda Waller and her Suicide Squad in this event.  Okay, let's jump into this issue and see what all the hubbub is all about and see how the Suicide Squad will do against the world's greatest superheroes.  Let's check it out.

Suicide Squad #10 Review and **SPOILERS**

Mommy’s Here

Writers: Rob Williams & Si Spurrier 

Artist: Giuseppe Cafaro 

Colors: Hi-Fi 

Letterer: Pat Brosseau 

Cover: Cafaro & Hi-Fi 

Cover Price: $2.99 

On Sale Date: January 25, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

This is probably PTSD speaking, having read that Night of the Monster Men trash over in the Bat-books, but this Justice League vs. Suicide Squad crossover hasn’t been all that terrible. I don’t know if I’d call it “essential,” but it’s got Max Lord, it’s got Eclipso, old school Lobo…I’ve been happy with it. So I welcome these tie-in issues of Suicide Squad, even though the other one was sort of disappointing. But second time’s a charm, right? Let’s find out in my review of Suicide Squad #10!

Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad #6 Review and *SPOILERS*

Making Our Way To The JLA

Written By: Joshua Williamson

Art By: Howard Porter, Alex Sinclair, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 25, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Alright boys and girls, we're finally at the end of our story and through it we've seen the Justice League fight the Suicide Squad, the two teams teaming up to fight the Lost Prisoners aka the first Suicide Squad and now that Maxwell Lord has taken control of the Justice League besides for Batman, it looks like our Dark Knight will have to take the Suicide Squad...... and Lobo and make them his new Justice League so that they can save the world from his Eclipso-ed out friends and as we saw at the end of the previous issue, Eclipso himself, now that he's completely taken over Maxwell Lord.  Let's jump into this conclusion and see how this band of villains being led by Batman can turn the tables against this gigantic threat.  Let's check it out.

Suicide Squad #9 Review and **SPOILERS**

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Brain Bomb

Writers: Rob Williams & Si Spurrier 

Artist: Riley Rossmo 

Colors: Ivan Plascencia 

Letters: Pat Brosseau 

Cover: Riley Rossmo 

Cover Price: $2.99 

On Sale Date: January 11, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

It’s a Suicide Squad vs. Justice League tie-in, and you know what that means! It will have no relevance to the actual event and may contradict the story therein. But that doesn’t mean it has to be a bad comic book, it can be…Riley Rossmo? On Suicide Squad? Oh no. I hate to be cliché, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this. But I ask myself What Would the Suicide Squad Do? and realize that I’d jump right into the fray, no matter how messy it is. So let’s not wade in slowly like some timid ninnies, let’s blast in like Killer Croc or Harley Quinn or some other criminal with a psychotic death wish! It’s my review of Suicide Squad #9, right here!

Suicide Squad #11 Review and **SPOILERS**

That Rascally Rustam

Writer: Rob Williams 

Penciller: John Romita Jr. 

Inker: Richard Friend 

Colorist: Dean White 

Letterer: Pat Brosseau 

Back-Up Penciller: Eddy Barrows 

Back-Up Inker: Eber Ferreira 

Back-Up Colorist: Adriano Lucas 

Cover: Romita, Friend & White 

Editor: Andy Khouri 

Associate Editor: Harvey Richards 

Group Editor: Brian Cunningham 

Cover Price: $2.99 

On Sale Date: February 8, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

That crazy Justice League vs. Suicide Squad crossover is done with, so now we can get down to the business of Task Force X proper! Which is, namely, being crazy. We’ve got a new penciller on board, though: John Romita Jr.! And still those back-ups…this really might be business-as-usual. Let’s take a look together in my review of Suicide Squad #11, right now!

Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad #5 Review and *SPOILERS*

Brave New World

Written By: Joshua Williamson

Art By: Robson Rocha, Jay Leister, Daniel Henriques, Sandu Florea, Oclair Albert, Alex Sinclair, Jeremiah Skipper, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 18, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Poor, poor Lost Prisoners.  Here I was thinking that the team that Maxwell Lord sprung from the Catacombs would be the focal point of this series, but since they got their asses handed to them in the previous issue by the Justice League and Suicide Squad....... Well, I guess they're pretty much out of the picture.  Well, all except Lobo that is.  Yeah, even though Batman went and blew his head to holy hell, we all know that it takes more than that to take the Main Man down.  As we left our previous issue we saw Maxwell Lord take possession of the Heart of Darkness, become what I'm calling "Lord Eclipso" and then take control of the Justice League.......... All except for Batman that is because he was too busy doing all that head blowing up.  Let's jump into this issue and see how Maxwell will save the world now that the Justice League are under his control and now that there's nobody to really stand in his way.  Let's check it out.

Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad #4 Review and *SPOILERS*

Heart of Darkness

Written By: Joshua Williamson

Art By: Fernando Pasarin, Matt Ryan, Alex Sinclair, Jeremiah Skipper, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 11, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Now that the Justice League and the Suicide Squad are pals, it's up to them to take down Maxwell Lord and his Lost Prisoners, which shouldn't be too taxing.... at least in the whole finding them part because as we left the previous issue we found out that Amanda Waller is housing a weapon at Belle Reve that Max desperately wants to get his hands on and with that, the Lost Prisoners and old Maxy boy are on their way to our title teams.  Now Jim and I came off with a crazy theory about what Maxwell is up to and while I'd love to go over that here........ I'm not going to because I've already read this issue and it looks like we were completely wrong.  Who knows though because we still have two more issues after this and anything could happen, but for now it looks like the him/it that Max was looking for is something that us at Weird Science never saw coming.  Let's jump into this issue and see what Max's big plan is for saving the world and what at Belle Reve will help him achieve that goal.  Let's check it out.

Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad #3 Review and *SPOILERS*

The Enemy of My Enemy

Written By: Joshua Williamson
Art By: Jesus Merino, Andy Owens, Alex Sinclair, Jeremiah Skipper, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 4, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

In the previous issue we saw our Justice League team captured by the Suicide Squad....... or at least, Killer Frost after a big ass fight and if that wasn't bad enough, we also have the villains that Maxwell Lord broke out of the super secret prison known as The Catacombs and as our heroes await whatever fate Amanda Waller has for them, these villains are out and about and doing god knows what...... while they're being controlled by Maxwell Lord.  Hopefully we get to see more of Max's crew in here because we've spent so much time with our title teams and at this point all I want is to see more of the real big bads of this book.  Let's jump into this issue and see what the Justice League do now that they're locked down in Belle Reve.  Let's check it out.

Top 5 Fridays: Top 5 Characters I'd Like to see Replace Lobo in JLA

Welcome to another justice filled edition of Top 5 Fridays! This week we had the conclusion to the Suicide Squad vs Justice League event, paving the way for the Justice League of America Rebirth premiering in two weeks! I've been excited for a while now, especially with the lineup. The young Atom, ready to rise above like his mentor before him. Vixen, wielding the powers of the Red to fight evil. The Ray, shining hope like never before. Killer Frost, ready to prove herself to be a true hero. Batman and Canary guiding this team of heroes. And then there is Lobo... Just Lobo. Lobo... on a Justice League... They couldn't have thought of anyone else better? Well, I think I've compiled a few candidates that could fit better with this new team of heroes. Like Frost, I believe that the people on this list have a chance to redeem themselves or like The Atom, can prove how useful they can be for the greater good. As always this is an opinion based list, so if you see someone you don't like, I apologize. With that out of the way, let's take a look at the candidates for the newest team in the DCU.

Suicide Squad #12 Review and **SPOILERS**

What’ll We Do Without Waller?

Writer: Rob Williams

Penciller: John Romita Jr.

Inker: Richard Friend

Colorists: Dean White & Jeremiah Skipper

Backup Penciller: Eddy Barrows

Backup Inker: Eber Ferreira

Backup Colorist: Adriano Lucas

Letterer: Pat Brosseau

Cover: Romita, Friend & White

Group Editor: Brian Cunningham

Associate Editor: Harvey Richards

Editor: Andy Khouri

Cover Price: $2.99

On Sale Date: February 22, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Amanda Waller was plugged right in the chest last issue, so let’s dispense with the usual nonsense and get right to the review! Now!

Justice League of America: Killer Frost Rebirth #1 (2017) Review

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Written By: Steve Orlando, Jody Houser

Art By: Mirka Andolfo, Arif Prianto, Clayton Cowles

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: January 25, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Killer Frost's redemption continues in this Rebirth issue, but after seeing it begin with the Suicide Squad backup and then seeing it throughout the Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad event, I don't know if it's really needed at this point.  Hell, if you want to get technical, we started seeing this change in the character back in the Forever Evil: ARGUS.  Yeah, Killer Frost has come a long way since trying to suck off Firestorm's heat and I guess we'll see the final leg of that redemption here before she joins the ranks of other heroes as a member of the Justice League of America.  Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

Justice League #12 Review

Lord Almighty

Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Christian Duce, Mat Lopes and Richard Starkings
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: January 4, 2017

The Justice League vs Suicide Squad Event is in full swing and so there are going to be some tie-in books whether we like it or not.  It doesn't bother me, as long as the books are good and feel necessary to the story.  With that in mind, we take a break from the usual goings on in Justice League to get a Maxwell Lord origin story.  He does seem like the big bad of the event, so this is something needed, right?  Well, that is still up for debate.  What do I mean?  Let's find out...

Justice League #11 Review

Game Over

Written by: Bryan Hitch
Art by: Neil Edwards, Daniel Henriques, Adriano Lucas and Richard Starkings
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 21, 2016

Okay, I have not been a fan of Bryan Hitch's Justice League, but I am here to tell you that I go into every issue with an open mind and heart.  I want to love this book so much, but like my Parents, it keeps ignoring my love and making my life a living hell.  Please, Justice League...love me.  LOVE ME!!!!  Okay, now that I've worked out a few problems, let me tell you that this issue is the finale to the "Outbreak" story and unless Hitch gives us a kick ass two minute drill, this one is going in the loss column.  Was it any good?  Let's find out...

Top 5 Fridays: Top 5 Cool Things from "The Dawn of the Justice League" Special

Welcome back to another edition of Top 5 Fridays. On Tuesday, The CW hosted two specials in place of iZombie. The first one was just a rundown of the characters that would appear in Thursday's DC's Legends of Tomorrow premiere. The second was a rundown of the DC Cinematic Universe... and holy crap, does it make me impatient for this universe to come out. The special was only 30 minutes long, but it showed a few cool things that I wanted to go over today. Let's break it down...

PREVIEW: Suicide Squad #8

It's Now or Never

Writer: Rob Williams 

Penciller: Jim Lee 

Inkers: Scott Williams, Richard Friend, Sandra Hope 

Colors: Jeremiah Skipper 

Letters: Pat Brosseau 

Backup Layouts: Giuseppe Camuncoli 

Backup Finished Art: Francesco Mattina 

Backup Colorist: Hi-Fi 

Backup Letters: Dave Sharpe 

Cover: Lee, Williams and Sinclair 

Variant Cover: Lee Bermejo 

Cover Price: $2.99 

On Sale Date: December 14, 2016

“THE BLACK VAULT” part eight! Harley Quinn goes sane! The prisoners and staff of Belle Reve Penitentiary have succumbed to the devastating effects of General Zod’s Black Vault, rendering them all insane. But it has the opposite effect on Harley, who must fight her way through a crazed Suicide Squad—with the help of the Enchantress—to stop Zod from waking and conquering the world. No pressure, right? And in a bonus backup story, learn how super-villains are conscripted into the Suicide Squad! The unlucky Killer Frost is about to find out when she arrives for her first day at Belle Reve. Her story continues from this month’s single issue of SUICIDE SQUAD directly into JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. SUICIDE SQUAD #1!

Whoa! A lot to unpack here! Looks like they conclude this arc and also set up the Justice League vs. Suicide Squad crossover due to happen in a week! Well, I'm about ready for "The Black Vault" to be over, so I welcome this change in story. Read on to see some preview pages.

Justice League #14 Review

That's No Moon

Written by: Bryan Hitch
Art by: Bryan Hitch, Daniel Henriques, Alex Sinclair and Richard Starkings
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: February 1, 2017

This story is called "Regroup" and that is what I hope this is all about.  I'm not talking about the Justice League when I say that, either.  Nope, I'm talking about Bryan Hitch!  I can only hope that the month off he got with Tim Seeley writing the Justice League vs Suicide Squad tie-ins allowed Hitch to reset his batteries, figure out what he wants to do with this book and...Regroup.  I'm not expecting miracles, but I am hoping for better characterizations, dialogue and maybe a definitive ending to at least one of his future stories.  Please, no more Dr. Who ripoff "this planet is under our protection" or "...something tells me this isn't over" bullshit!  PLEASE!!!  So, are my hopes and dreams fulfilled right here and right now?  Let's find out...

PREVIEW: Suicide Squad #11

I Fell Into a Burning Ring of Fire

Writer: Rob Williams

Penciller: John Romita Jr.

Inker: Richard Friend

Colorist: Dean White

Letterer: Pat Brosseau

Back-Up Penciller: Eddy Barrows

Back-Up Inker: Eber Ferreira

Back-Up Colorist: Adriano Lucas

Cover: Romita, Friend & White

Variant Cover: Lee Bermejo

Editor: Andy Khouri

Associate Editor: Harvey Richards

Group Editor: Brian Cunningham

Cover Price: $2.99

On Sale Date: February 8, 2017

“BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE” part one! Spinning directly out of the events of JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. SUICIDE SQUAD! Hidden somewhere deep within, the world is a burning flame. Its light is blinding. Its heat is deadly. It’s a fire fueled by hatred, by rage and by vengeance. Used, abused and left for dead, the greatest foe the Suicide Squad has ever faced returns, more powerful than ever, to burn down the world Amanda Waller has given everything to protect.

I enjoyed the Justice League vs. Suicide Squad miniseries enough, but the tie-ins didn't do a lot for me. I'm hoping we can get back to the business of depicting a bunch of murderous goofballs stumbling into victory like a bunch of slavering Golmer Pyles. Goll-lee! Check out some of them thar preview pages below!

Suicide Squad #5 Review and **SPOILERS**

To Be One, Ask One

Writer: Rob Williams 

Penciller: Jim Lee 

Inkers: Scott Williams, Jonathan Glapion, Sandra Hope 

Colors: Alex Sinclair 

Letters: Pat Brosseau 

Back-Up Art and Color: Stephen Byrne 

Back-Up Lettering: Rob Leigh 

Cover: Lee, Williams and Sinclair 

Cover Price: $2.99 

On Sale Date: October 26, 2016

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

So here’s something weird…this issue was solicited as “The Black Vault, part 5,” but this issue is titled “Going Sane Part One: Shock Treatment.” I think there must have been some shuffling of issues and shortening of story arcs here, perhaps to make room for the rapidly-approaching Suicide Squad vs. the Justice League crossover. That would explain why we barely saw any of the Annihilation Brigade last issue! Hopefully that won’t be the last we ever see of Cosmonut, though, that guy was intriguing as heck! I want to see what other pictograms he can utter, and what, if any, are his powers. I mean, he could just be a guy in a spacesuit with a tack hammer for a head. I’d be fine with that. I did used to read Flaming Carrot comics, after all. I’m certainly rambling now, so let’s just tuck that editorial mystery in our “What the fudge is up, DC?” file and move on to my review of Suicide Squad #5!